Bank fined £56m over IT meltdown

Royal Bank of Scotland is to pay fines totalling £56 million following an IT meltdown in 2012 which locked millions of customers out of their accounts.

The group, which includes NatWest and Ulster Bank, has already paid more than £70 million in redress to UK customers as a result of the crash, which it has blamed on “unacceptable weaknesses” in its systems.

The Financial Conduct Authority, which has fined RBS £42 million, said the IT failure affected 6.5 million customers. The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority has issued a separate penalty of £14 million in relation to the bank’s inadequate systems.